While things have not gone the way most of us had hoped so far for the Atlanta Braves in 2021, there have been several nice surprises.
It’s been a struggle finding something positive to write about on this Atlanta Braves team lately, but hopefully this will lift some spirits.
Every year you have some players who you didn’t expect to be big contributors come up and surprise. We’re going to look at a couple here for the Braves.
Braves Surprise #1 — Huascar Ynoa
Even the positives for the Braves this year come with disappointment as Huascar Ynoa is currently on the IL after punching a wall…
But before that, he was looking like the breakout candidate of the year in baseball. At a time when the team desperately needed some help in the starting rotation, Ynoa delivered.
The 23-year-old is 4-2 with a 3.02 ERA in 44.2 innings with 50 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.05.
But not only was he getting it done on the mound before the injury, but he was also raking at the plate with a .353 average and 2 home runs.
Let’s just hope this stupid setback doesn’t impede his progress.
Braves Surprise #2 –Pablo Sandoval and Ehire Adrianza
The bench was the biggest issue for this team coming into the season, but these two have been brilliant to start the season.
Their numbers don’t look great anymore, but part of that is because Adrianza has had to make a lot of starts because of injuries and he’s getting exposed.
The Panda has 4 home runs and they all seem to have given the Braves the lead.
Braves Surprise #3 — Austin Riley
Maybe the best surprise of the season has been the young third baseman. He was one of the players we pointed out before the season that needed to step up in 2021 — and he certainly has.
He came into Saturday’s game slashing .308/.394/.519 with a .912 OPS and 10 home runs.
Riley carried the team offensively throughout the month of May and was named the NL Player of the Week not long ago.
We weren’t sure what to expect from Riley coming into 2021, but he’s showing why Atlanta believes he could be the third baseman of the future.